Marion's story
by Rafi77
Summary: For those of you who like Psycho, this might be one for you. Ever wondered what actually happens to Marion Crane if she doesn't get killed in the shower? Boring first chapter but expect an update and lots of twists soon! Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N Hello again readers! I am finally shortly leaving my Greek mythology story-writing, and this one is about Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, told by Marion's point of view. No shower murders this time! This first chapter is kinda boring, but expect lots of twists in the next chapters of the story! _

Summary: Ever wondered what happens if Marion doesn't die in the shower? And what if Norman just isn't as crazy as we thought he was?

Chapter One – On the Run 

**Saturday, June 24th, sometime after 1960, unsure of exact year**

Dear Diary,

While writing this I look back on what happened to me, and I am shocked. Shocked, but also glad. I suppose you want to know what exactly did happen to me. Well, up until a few years ago, I lived in Phoenix, Arizona. But one time I actually decided to leave. Well, I'll tell you everything, just so you'll understand.

**Friday, May 23rd, 1960**

Dear Diary,

While writing this I am in my car. The only problem is that I don't know where I am heading.

You see, I had just left the town that I currently lived in. I was unhappy with my job there, and so I thought, what if I leave and start a new life somewhere else? Then another, more negative thought came into my head and thought, but no, how can I just abandon the only life I've ever known? And, I know now that I had done it without properly thinking about the consequences. You see, when my employer gave me forty thousand dollars to take to the bank, in a sudden rush of impulse, I went away. I ran away with the money in my handbag, and a suitcase packed with everything I could find, hoping to leave Phoenix forever and make a clean start.

So I left. I got into my car and drove off. But I realise now that this was a bad decision. Why? Well, let's see. Firstly, just after I left, I had had a close shave with the police. A few hours after I left Phoenix I started driving, not sure exactly where I was heading. My mind was sort of not working properly then. All sorts of thoughts were rushing in and out of my head, like, "Where am I going to go now? And what if the police catch me? What if someone from back home comes looking for me?" I also felt bad, stealing forty thousand dollars. I knew that it was wrong, and I felt guilty. Right then, I very nearly changed my mind and went back. But then I just carried on. If I run away I might as well actually go through with it.

I was trying to calm down, but then I realised that a police car was following me from behind. I had no other choice but to pull over, but I got out of that all right. I just made up some story; I can't even remember it right now, I just showed him my driver's license and he let me go. But it wasn't long before I realised that he was still following me. So I thought the best idea was to buy a new car, just in case someone decided to look for me. I pulled over at a garage and bought another car. I was in a big hurry, and I think the salesman thought that I was a bit strange. But luckily, when I left, the policeman was nowhere to be seen.

So, after that encounter, I was feeling a bit better, but I still had no idea where I was going. Another hour passed, and I was still driving. I suddenly realised that I was very tired. I had to pull over and rest somewhere for the night. I was worried that I wouldn't find somewhere very soon and I'd fall asleep at the wheel. I looked around me, hoping to find a road sign or something. Then, as I looked to my right, I noticed a neon sign. As I got closer to it, I saw that it said "Bates Motel". When I saw it I was sort of relieved. At least I had somewhere to spend the night. It looked a little shanty, but still it looked like a reasonable place from the outside. So, without a second thought, I pulled over to get some rest. I would decide where to go and what to do later. Right now I was too tired to think about complicated things any more.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N To those of you who are reading this story, this is the second chapter. Enjoy!_ _To hfg: Thank you again for the review. _ Chapter Two – Strange Goings-On 

**Same Day, 10:30pm**

Dear Diary,

So, I decided to go to this motel for now. Right then it was the only place that's decent enough to spend one night in. I pulled over next to the motel and got out. It looked like quite a friendly place, and before I went inside to ask for a room, I first stopped and took it all in. Before I go into a new place, I always like to see what it looks like first. It's just one of the many strange things about me. I noticed that there was a large house on the hill up the pathway from the motel. It looked rather picturesque, but also kind of creepy. I thought it would be the perfect place for a murder! As I looked, I thought I noticed something or someone sitting by the window, but then I supposed there might just be a family living there or something.

So, after I had taken this all in, I walked into the motel to ask for a room. I went up to the desk and saw a man standing there, looking the other way. I cleared my throat authoritatively. The man turned around and jumped, looking rather startled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle…" I started to say, but then I stopped. As I looked at the man behind the desk, I realised that he was actually very good-looking. He was dark, with dark eyes and dark hair, and I thought that normally a man like that didn't catch my attention very much, but this man was different. There was something about him that made me think he was the most handsome man in the world.

We stared at each other for a long time, and then I suddenly remembered that I was here to find a place to spend the night. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but I was suddenly unable to remember what I was about to say. After a few seconds of absolute silence, he said to me in a shaky voice, "Can I – can I help you?"

I nodded silently, but I couldn't say anything. But then my mind slowly started coming back to me, and I remembered that I had to ask for a room.

"Yes, I…I think I'd like…" but then my mind went blank again. In fact it went so blank that I had forgotten where I was in the first place and how I had ended up here!

"Maybe - maybe you'd like a room?" he finished my sentence for me.

Then I suddenly snapped back to reality and I realised that I was completely embarrassing myself in front of a complete stranger. But in fact, that was just the thing. He didn't look like a stranger to me. When I looked at him I thought that I had known him for my whole life, and I felt a strange pang in the pit of my stomach. I was feeling a bit flushed and light-headed.

"Yes, I – I'd like a room please," I said finally. "I was just searching for a place to spend the night, and I was wondering if you have a vacancy?"

"We have twelve vacancies actually," he told me, sounding very nervous. "Twelve cabins, twelve vacancies. There's no one else here at the moment. In fact you're – you're the first visitor I've had in the motel for a long time."

"Um…thank you," I said, as if he had just paid me the biggest compliment in the world. But then I wondered, why had I suddenly lost the power to speak properly in front of this man? He was just a motel owner. What's so special about him? What was it about him that I found so hypnotising? But now I had to concentrate on here and now, not on my thoughts and my daydreams, because my mind was elsewhere.

"Is it all right if I take one of the rooms then?" I asked, this time with my voice a bit more normal.

"Oh yes of course," he told me. I could tell that he was daydreaming as well. So was he having the same strange feelings as I was?

He reached behind him to a wooden board, and took out a key to a room. Room one.

"If…if you'd just like to sign in to the register," he told me. I noticed that his voice was always shaky, as if he was permanently nervous or something. I signed in to the register, but I put in a false name, just in case someone from back home came looking for me.

When he turned around with the key, I noticed something interesting about him. His eyes. They were always wide open, and they looked as if he was permanently frightened or shaken as well. They looked as if they took in everything. His gaze seemed to look right into your mind.

"Would you – would you like me to show you to your room?" he asked again, in his shaky voice.

"Yes I'd like that very much, thank you," I told him. I had finally got my voice back, but that feeling in the pit of my stomach still wouldn't go away.

He led me outside to the first door next to his office and opened it for me. "Thank you," I said. In fact I more like whispered it than said it.

Before I went in we both stood in the doorway and smiled at each other.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" he asked me finally, after a few minutes. I was actually hoping that he would ask that. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound forward. I know I don't know you, but…maybe you could…get settled here and then I'll come back for you in about an hour?"

Hearing his voice made my heart seem to shift position in my chest. "I'd love to," I said without thinking. "Of course I would. Maybe we could get to know each other a little better."

"That's fantastic," he said. "I'll be – back in an hour then," he said happily, and with that he smiled and walked away from my door. I watched him as he walked back down to his office. At one point he turned and looked back at me, and I couldn't help laughing, and my cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. I didn't know why, but I was suddenly feeling like a little girl again. I had even forgotten that I was on the run. I quickly closed the door behind me, blushing scarlet.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N – Hi everyone, (to those of you who are reading this story at least!). This chapter is very short, but expect a longer one soon. Anyway, enjoy this one. **_

**Chapter Three – A possibility**

Same day, about 11pm

Dear Diary,

As I walked into my room I was feeling…confused. I didn't know what to think. I had walked into a motel just for the simple reason of finding some place to spend the night. It could have been anywhere else, but now that I'm in this one, I felt as if it was the best motel in the whole world, as if it was some kind of paradise. And it was because of this man. It was strange, that I couldn't even speak properly while I was with him. I hadn't even thought of asking to know his name yet. And I would have loved to know what his name was. Suddenly, I was completely uninterested by the fact that I had run away from somewhere with stolen forty thousand dollars, and my head was filled with thoughts of this man. His dark hair, his nervous voice, his eyes…particularly his eyes in fact. They seemed so unusual. I had never seen eyes like he had before. And he had seemed so kind…he was almost perfect. I put my suitcase down on my bed in a dream-like state, as if I was sleepwalking or something. Then I found the money, and suddenly I was worried with how I could hide it. I looked around for somewhere. I considered hiding it under the bed, but then I thought that that would way too obvious. It was the first place that someone would look if they came looking for me. Then I thought about putting it in a drawer, but I decided that this was still too obvious. Finally I found a newspaper in my handbag and wrapped the money very tightly inside it. There, I thought. Now it was safe. No one would ever find it. Then I changed my clothes, to at least look a little more presentable. For some reason I desperately wanted to impress this man. I wanted him to think that I was someone special, not just a perfectly normal girl with a perfectly normal life. And indeed I wasn't. I had run away from somewhere, and that was definitely not normal. But I thought that maybe I wouldn't mention that to him for the moment. I didn't want him to think that I was crazy or something. But then another thought suddenly came into my mind. Why was I having all these strange feelings around him? As I said, what was so special about him? Then another thought snapped back into my head. I knew for a fact that I had a boyfriend back in Phoenix. I had completely forgotten about him in fact, when I was too busy with running away and wondering where to go. But then he suddenly snapped back into my mind. What was I doing? I was in a motel, which I thought was perfectly normal, but now I couldn't stop thinking about the owner. But I had left now. Didn't I say that I wanted to start my life again, from the beginning? So then why was I still thinking about things that are now officially in the past? I dismissed this thought from my mind and went back to changing my clothes. 

I hadn't taken a lot of jewellery with me, because I had left in such a hurry. I didn't really have anything special to change into. So I just ended up putting on another dress and some earrings that I found squashed under everything in the bottom of my suitcase. Then I brushed my hair and waited.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N – Dear (few!) readers, **_

_**This is the next chapter of this story. Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I had some problems with my document manager. Anyway, to those of you who are reading this, please review. **_

_**PS – this chapter is rather short, but there'll be another one soon.**_

**Chapter Four – Dinner**

**Same day, ten minutes later**

Dear Diary,

Ten minutes after I had finished changing, I heard a knock on my door. I felt a sudden pang of excitement as I went to open the door and my heart skipped a beat. I tried to look at least half way towards normal as I opened the door through. I didn't want him to think I was some kind of giggly little girl. I opened the door slowly.

When I saw the man again, I smiled. He smiled at me too. He was holding a tray of sandwiches and a jug of milk in his hands. Then he laughed slightly. "I hope you weren't expecting anything too fancy," he told me.

Then I laughed as well and said, "You really shouldn't have bothered, I really don't have that much of an appetite. But…as long as you've fixed the supper we may as well eat it," I said and held open the door of my room for him. But then he stepped forward and then stepped back and stood still, looking rather uncomfortable.

"It…it might be nicer…and warmer – in the office," he told me with a smile. So I closed the door behind me and followed him back to his office. I smiled secretly as I walked behind him. He was really very sweet, at least to me. When we went inside I sat down smiling, and he put a sandwich plate in front of me. For a moment I just stared at it like an idiot, but then I smiled up at him. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I've suddenly lost my appetite. I hope you don't mind."

"No. No of course – of course I don't mind," he told me. Then we did that whole long staring at each other session again, and since I was sort of currently in this strange hypnotic trance, it had been difficult to look away. "I'm sorry," he told me. "You don't even know my name, do you? I'm Norman, Norman Bates," he added. Then he held out his hand to me as if we had just met like two seconds ago. I shook it gently, and as I did, it sent a strange tingle down my spine as my hand touched his.

Norman, I thought. Norman Bates. That name sounded like music to my ears. "My name's Marion. Marion Crane," I told him without thinking. Then I suddenly remembered the false name that I had signed in the register, and I mentally kicked myself. I didn't want him to suspect me in any way. I waited uncomfortably.

"Marion," he repeated. Then he thought for a minute. "That's not the name you signed in to the register, is it?"

I found myself fighting not to blush again, and in fact I almost burst out laughing at his question. "No," I said finally. "It isn't." I couldn't think of anything else to say. Norman waited for a minute, and then he finally smiled and said, "You haven't been in some kind of trouble, have you?" "Well," I started off slowly. "I have a bit, actually." I hoped that maybe he would just leave it at that but I think he wanted me to tell him. "Well. Marion is a beautiful name. It suits you," he told me at first. "You can tell me what happened to you, you know. Of course I understand if you'd rather not talk about it," he continued hurriedly. I laughed nervously. "You…you wouldn't be interested to know," I told him. "It's not a very interesting story anyway. I just sort of…I decided to start my life again. You know, move on. My life before I left home was…well it was not right for me," I told him. "I had been driving for a long time, and that's when I noticed your motel and I thought I'd stop here for the night. Don't worry, I will not stay for long." Norman looked a little disappointed that I had told him that I had only come here to stay for the night. He looked as if he wanted me to stay for longer. I wondered if I should, actually. Maybe I could live here for a while, until I can find somewhere new to go and get settled in. I had no idea where I was going, after all. And it's a pleasant place here anyway, even if it is very far away from the town. "You know that you're…you're welcome to stay here for as long as you want," he told me. "Thank you, but I really wouldn't like to be a burden to you," I answered him politely. "No, no," he continued eagerly. "It would not be any trouble at all. Anyway, if you're…if you're moving away from your home, then you might as well stay here for a while, right?" 

That was exactly what I was thinking, I thought to myself. And Norman seemed so nice. I was sure that he wouldn't mind me staying here for a little while longer.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N Dear readers, this is the next chapter of my story. I would like to say a special thank you to smithsbabe65 for the very encouraging and kind review. Thanks a lot, and enjoy the next chapter. Next one on the way very shortly.  _

Chapter Five – Norman 

**Still Friday, heading towards Saturday**

Dear Diary,

Afterwards even if I didn't eat, I just stayed in Norman's office for a little while longer, not saying anything, but just enjoying being with him, enjoying his presence in the room. It made me feel…it made me feel kind of safe in a way. I could just forget about all my other current problems and just feel safe and relaxed.

But then after a little while of a long, uneasy silence between him and me I started talking again, about something that had happened to catch my attention when I walked into the motel.

"I thought I noticed someone sitting at the window of that house up there when I came in," I said, gesturing vaguely towards the house on top of the hill.

Norman's smile faded from his face. I wondered if I had unintentionally insulted him in some way. "Oh," he said quietly. "That…that must be my mother. She…she lives with me, in the house up there. She's not very well. I have to look after her most of the time. She's sort of…not in her right mind. She just goes a little crazy sometimes. She can't help what she does. I mean, we all go a little crazy sometimes. Haven't you?"

I noticed that the tone in his voice had changed. Now it seemed more…harder, colder and less gentle than before. I decided that this was probably not a good topic to talk about. "I'm sorry for bringing that up," I told him. "And…yes, I do go a bit crazy sometimes as well. That's one of the reasons why I ended up here, in fact. It was a…a sudden act of craziness, let's say. Do you know what I mean?"

Norman smiled again, and answered, "Yes, of course, I know exactly what you mean. I'm sorry for speaking to you a bit harshly. It was unintentional."

I nodded as if to say, "It's all right." After that we stayed silent again for a while. I decided that it was getting way too uneasy staying there with him any more. Right then I just wanted to get away from that room as fast as I could and with the least possible embarrassment. I slowly got up from the sofa, and told him, "I – I should probably go back to my room. It's very late, and I'm very tired. I'm just going to take a quick shower and then go to bed."

Then Norman stood up as well as I started walking towards the door and stopped me. "Please don't go yet. Please stay here for a bit longer. I…I'm not really looking forward to going back to my mother's house. I just don't – I just don't feel safe there. I feel much better staying here. Will you stay here with me for a little while longer? Please."

"Oh, I…I don't know. I really am very tired," I insisted. It seemed strange to me that he would want me to stay for longer. I think that maybe he was just trying to get me to stay so that he can forget about his sick mother, or maybe it was just for the usual reason that all men want. Well, nearly all. Norman definitely doesn't seem like the kind of man who would do that, what with this nervous personality of his. Somehow, he even seemed to me that he acted a bit like a woman. He was just so kind and – and a little, let's say shy. It seemed as if he was perfect for me. I wondered if maybe, just maybe, I could be falling in love with him. That was how I had felt since I'd first seen his face that I was falling in love with him. I wondered if he felt the same way about me. I hadn't expected this, I must say. I hadn't at all expected to just go into a motel and then all this to happen. It was like it was just meant to happen.

"No funny business, I promise," Norman told me quickly. "I just wondered if maybe you might want to spend the night in here. It's not – it might not exactly be safe, to go back to your room."

That surprised me, and also made me a bit suspicious as well. Why would tell me that it's not "safe" as he put it? "What do you mean?" I asked him nervously.

"It's just…you remember how I was telling you that my mother can go a little crazy sometimes? Well, I, I can't really explain properly right now but will you please stay here? It's better this way."

I considered this. At first I just thought that he was telling me lies about his mother to get me to sleep with him or something. But then I realised that Norman is not the type of person who would do that, I definitely think so. I can see it in his face, I trust him. I just feel like I can trust him. There was something inside me that made me want to do whatever he asked me to do.

"Well. All right," I told him finally. "I'll spend the night in here, if you say so. But what exactly would your mother want to do to me?"

"Like I said, I can't explain properly right now. Just please don't ask me any more questions. At least for the moment."

"OK. That's fine," I told him. "Can I at least go back to my room and get my things?"

He didn't answer, but I could tell that he looked uneasy. He was talking to me more nervously than before, in a more, let's say, paranoid way. I wondered what exactly his problem was. "OK maybe…maybe I'll just stay here," I said, changing my mind. "But tomorrow will you tell me a bit more about your mother? I really want to know what you mean."

"Of course," he said and nodded nervously.

I wondered if Norman had some kind of a problem. He seemed like the type of person who was, let's say obsessed with something. But I was also a bit scared. What exactly was his mother like and why did he want me to stay in there with him. I didn't want him to think that I thought that his mother was some kind of psycho. I was also wondering what the point of giving me a room was if he wanted me to stay with him. But I still couldn't help thinking it. I was a little bit scared actually. Up until now I had thought that Norman was just a normal person, maybe a kind of mama's boy. He didn't really seem to be able to think for himself, but I thought that he was still a normal person. But now I wasn't so sure.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Another special thank you to smithsbabe65 for all the support you've been giving me – here is chapter six! **_

**Chapter Six – The office**

**Saturday, May 24th 1960, 1:00am**

Dear Diary,

So I spent the night in Norman's office just like he told me. I was actually a bit uncomfortable to say no to him. I didn't know why. Like I said, there was something that made me want to do everything he asked me to.

"Where will you sleep?" I asked him, noticing that there was only a sofa in the room.

"Oh, don't – don't worry about that, I'll be quite comfortable on the armchair," he told me. His voice was still the same. He had a much more nervous tone than before.

"Are you sure?" I asked him. "Norman…I'm not sure about this. I think I really should go back to my room."

"No," he said in a panicked voice and walking to block the door. "It's not safe. I'll explain it all to you tomorrow, I promise. But I just…I don't want you to be alone. Right now you should just get some sleep."

"OK," I told him, even though I thought that he was treating me like a little girl when he said that, saying that he didn't want me to be alone. I could take care of myself after all. "Are you sure you'll be OK on the armchair?" I continued.

"Yes," he said immediately. "Don't worry about me. You just go to sleep and we'll talk again tomorrow."

"If you say so," I told him.

So I lay down on the sofa and tried to go to sleep. But I couldn't sleep knowing that Norman was watching me. Even with my eyes closed I could still feel his eyes fixed on mine. When I opened my eyes he was indeed looking at me right in the face.

"What's the matter?" he asked me, when he saw me open my eyes.

"Nothing," I said. "I was just thinking about some things."

"What kind of things?" he asked me. "I'm sorry for asking that, I don't mean to ask you personal questions or anything," he added. I noticed that the tone in his voice had returned to that same, gentle voice that he had before. I was very tired, but I wanted to talk to him. I just had to find out what it was that was bothering him so much. "It's all right, I don't mind," I said. "I was thinking about you, actually."

He laughed nervously at this. "About me? What's so special about me?"

"There is something," I said. "I don't know what it is, but there is something."

Then we both smiled. I was suddenly back in that hypnotised state that I was in before we had started talking. I couldn't even think properly again.

"Come here," I told him without meaning to.

"What?" he asked me. I noticed that his voice was turning nervous again. I stopped there, not wanting to say any more, but just feeling embarrassed now. "Forget it," I told him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked me.

"It doesn't matter. Please just forget it," I insisted, fighting not to blush again.

I was expecting him to start acting nervous with me again, but he didn't. Instead he came over to me silently and sat down on the sofa next to me. Then he took my hand and held it tightly. I felt that same tingle I had felt when we had first shook hands, this time straight from my head down to my toes. To me that first time we met seemed like about a hundred years ago right now, even though I knew that it was only about a few hours ago.

"What's the matter with you, Norman?" I whispered to him. "Please just tell me."

"Tomorrow," he insisted. "Tomorrow I'll tell you everything."

Without even meaning to but just doing it hypnotically again, I gently tugged at his hand and pulled him down on the sofa next to me. I realised that there must be something really wrong with this man. He must have psychological problems, especially if he talks about his mother in this way, in this strange, unusual way, telling me that she's crazy.

I gently put my arms round him. I just thought that he needed someone's comfort right now, mainly mine. I wanted to protect him. I didn't even know why, but it seemed to me that he needed protection. He rested his head on my breast and I felt as if I was protecting him.

"Marion?" he whispered to me.

"Shh. You just go to sleep now," I comforted him. "We'll have time to talk tomorrow, I promise, and then you can tell me all about your mother."

I was almost too tired to speak any more. Now I know something for sure. I love him. I have never actually been in love before, I mean, at least not seriously. But I felt that I was serious about this.

I wondered what would have happened if I had gone back to my room. Would his mother really have come and done something to me? But Norman made me feel safe as he held me. I don't know why, but he gives me…I don't know, sureness, and comfort, as I breathed in his warm smell. I've never met anyone who could make me feel that kind of thing before.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N – Enjoy the next chapter! It's quite long, but I will submit the next one soon as well. Hope you like it, and look out for the next chapter very soon!**_

**Chapter Seven – Mother**

**Sunday, 24th May 1960**

Dear Diary,

When I woke up the next day I found that I was still in Norman's arms. It wasn't properly light yet so I went back to sleep for a while, and then woke up again. At first I struggled to remember where I was and what I was doing, but then everything came back to me, and when I felt that Norman was still there, I felt safe. I knew that there was someone there for me. The sofa was quite small and there wasn't really enough space for the two of us, so I felt rather squashed when I tried to turn around. But I didn't care. The closer Norman was to me, the better I felt about everything bad that I had done.

I needed a shower. I hadn't had one in days now, ever since I left Phoenix. I knew that it was probably quite early. Norman was still fast asleep. I smiled at him as he slept, and wondered what he was dreaming. Was he dreaming of me, I wondered? But no, that was just silly. He had only just met me yesterday. I myself had never thought that I would do something quite so intimate like this when I had just met someone the previous day. But I still felt that I could trust him. Why else would I feel so safe in his arms? I felt that I knew him.

But today there was something else that was preoccupying me. I needed to find out what happened that bothered Norman so much, what made him tell me last night that it wasn't safe to go back to my room. But still, I'm glad that I stayed here. Norman was right in a way. I did feel a lot safer in here, with Norman lying beside me. But I had to find out why he thought that, why his mind worked in this anxious and paranoid way. I still hadn't forgotten the way his eyes looked when he looked at me, how they seemed to just keep going on and on into his head, like an endless maze. And the way his eyes fixed on my face sort of scared me a little at times. They had a strange gleam if you looked carefully at his face. It was perfectly noticeable, at least to me. I could never tell what he might be thinking. I wondered what he was thinking right now, at that very moment.

I slowly got up from the sofa and quietly tiptoed over to the door. I looked at the time. It was still early. I slowly opened the door and looked outside. I glanced up at the house on the hill. The figure at the window was still there. Had it been there all night, I wondered? I wondered if that was Norman's mother.

I quickly shut the door, anxious to know that the figure might be looking at me. I sighed deeply and sat down on an armchair, waiting for Norman to wake up. As I looked around his office, I realised that he had a lot of birds on the wall. I guessed that they were stuffed birds. They looked rather macabre, if I said so myself. A strange hobby that is, stuffing birds. But then again, Norman had always seemed strange, ever since I met him. And I meant that in a good way. I had always been interested in birds, especially since my last name, Crane is the name of a bird. I smiled as I looked at all the different birds and then glanced back at Norman on the sofa.

After a few minutes he stirred and opened his eyes. "Marion?" he asked, sounding scared and sitting up quickly.

"It's all right Norman, I'm here," I said to him and went over to the sofa and took his hand. "I'm taking care of you."

"Have you been staying here all night?" he asked me with that anxious look on his face again.

"Yes. You asked me to, remember?" I reminded him.

"Oh. Oh yes of course," he said as if he was trying to remember something in the distant past or something. Then he thought for a minute, and then he asked me anxiously again, "Did we…I mean did you…did we…you know?"

"No," I said hurriedly. I was feeling very embarrassed then. Now I know that there's something wrong with him if he can't remember what had happened the previous night. I was very embarrassed that he thought that we had done something. "Nothing happened, seriously," I reassured him. He stayed silent and nodded. I looked at him with a curious look but I didn't say anything about how unusual I thought he was. I didn't want to make him nervous again. He seemed very fragile to me.

"Come back," Norman said to me suddenly and looked at me hopefully. "Please come and lie next to me again. It's still early. We can get up later."

When he said that I was both delighted and kind of flattered. I knew that I had helped him with what I had done last night, whatever kind of problem he might have, I don't even know myself. I smiled and slowly sank back down next to him. He was the one who put his arms round me this time and held me tightly to him. He looked gloomy again, he was always thinking about something.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

Norman stayed silent for a minute and then finally he sighed deeply. "Yes, I'm all right," he said quietly. "And thank you," he continued, "for what you did for me last night."

"I did nothing," I said this time.

"You know what you did," Norman continued, smiling. "You comforted me, and made me feel better than I've ever felt in a very long time. That is the best thing anyone could ever have done for me."

"Well then I'm very glad to hear that," I said to him gently.

We lay silently for a while and I almost drifted back to sleep. I still couldn't keep my thoughts off Norman and I was always aware of his warm body next to mine, and again I felt safe.

After a while we finally got up again. "Would you like me to fix us something to eat for breakfast?" I offered to Norman.

"No, no that's fine. I could go back up to the house and do that," he said quickly.

I smiled and nodded. Then there was another awkward pause, like there had been the day before. But still, now I didn't care. I felt that I knew Norman. I wasn't anywhere near as uncomfortable as I had been the previous day.

"What do you like to do?" I asked Norman finally, trying to start a conversation. "What kind of things are there to do around here?"

Norman smiled. "Not many," he admitted. "I think that's one of the reasons that nobody stops here any more. Because of all the monotony, let's say. The only thing there I ever do here is stuffing those birds." He pointed to the birds on the wall and I looked around at them. They looked rather creepy to me, as if they were looking accusingly at me. Norman laughed weakly and continued. "You probably have lots more things to do where you live. You obviously wouldn't really want to stay here for much longer," he added kind of sadly.

"No, no," I said quickly. "I like this place."

The truth is I wouldn't like this place anywhere near as much if Norman wasn't in it. But still, I couldn't really tell him that. It would just lead to another awkward silence.

"Well, you're the first person that's ever said that," Norman said and laughed again, and then I laughed too. He seemed much more cheerful today than he had been the previous day. Maybe I really was helping him. I liked to think so.

"Is there anything else you like doing?" I asked him. I wanted to know more about him. Maybe that way I could figure out what was wrong with him.

Norman paused for a minute. "I'll tell you a secret. The one thing I really like is playing the piano."

That surprised me. I never thought that someone like Norman would enjoy something like playing the piano.

"You play the piano?" I grinned at him.

"Oh sure," Norman smiled. "Well, I used to, when I was younger. I used to play it all the time. I love it. I've always loved music. But now I don't…I don't play that much any more."

"Why not?" I asked.

Norman shrugged and the smile faded from his face. "I don't know," he said vaguely. "There just never seems to be much time any more. I…I have to do everything for my mother, and…well, you know how it is."

"I know," I nodded. Then there was another pause, and then I reluctantly continued. "Would you…would you think I was asking too much if I asked you to play something for me? I'd really like to hear you play."

Norman paused and looked uneasy. I wondered if I had said something wrong. "I don't think you're asking too much at all," he said finally. "But if…if I played then I'd have to go up to the house. And…well, I told you how I feel yesterday about going up there," he said, gesturing towards the house on the hill. "It's just…not safe."

"Not safe for me?" I asked suspiciously. Again there he goes; telling me that something's not safe.

"For both of us," he said. "I just don't feel comfortable going up there."

"Oh, that's all right, I understand," I said, but I was rather disappointed. I looked at the ground sadly, fiddling with my fingers.

Norman looked at me thoughtfully. "You really want to hear something?" he asked me.

I looked up and nodded hopefully. "Yes, I would. Please."

Norman waited for a minute. "Come on then," he said, smiling at me and getting up from the chair. "If you really want to hear something, I'll play something for you."

Then I cheered up again, and we both walked out of the office and towards the house on the hill. "Are you sure this is all right?" I asked him. "I didn't mean to pressure you or anything."

"No, it's fine," Norman said. "But…but if you don't mind, we'll spend as little time in that house as possible. Is that all right with you?"

"Of course," I nodded eagerly. "But why would it be a problem to stay in that house for long?"

"I can't really explain properly right now," Norman said as we got to the top of the hill. Then he looked at me right in the eyes and said, "You've just got to trust me. Please understand that I can't tell you anything. At least not right now. Perhaps later, but not now. Will you please trust me?"

"Of course I'll trust you," I nodded. "As long as you promise that you will tell me at some time. I really want to know. I want to help you. I hope I'm not asking too much," I added quickly.

"No, of course I'll tell you. Some time later," Norman said. "Let's go, then," he said, and opened the door of the house.

As soon as I saw inside the house, I really liked it. Again, I felt as if I could feel safe in that house, the same way I felt safe with Norman.

"Sit down," Norman told me, pointing to the sofa in the room on the left. "Are you hungry?"

"No, not really. Maybe just some coffee, if you don't mind," I said.

"OK. If you could just – do me a favour and stay here, in this room. Don't go anywhere else," Norman said and went into the kitchen. I nodded reluctantly but I didn't understand why not. As I looked around the place, it seemed like a very pleasant place to me. I didn't understand why Norman didn't like it.

After a few minutes Norman came back with a mug and handed it to me. "Thank you," I said. "This is really a nice house," I added.

"Well. At least it…it used to be," Norman said gloomily. I looked at him curiously. "Never mind," Norman said quickly. "You'll hear it all later. Well, you…you wanted to hear something, didn't you?"

As soon as I heard Norman play the piano, I felt that I loved him even more. It sounded like the most beautiful music I had heard in my life. While I listened to it I was just lost in a daydream, simply thinking of nothing and forgetting about everything bad I had done.

After Norman finished he smiled at me. "What do you think?" he asked. "It's not anything much, really, but…"

"No, I loved it," I said. "It's beautiful. Where did you learn to play so well?"

Norman paused and lowered his eyes to the ground. "My mother taught me," he said and then smiled after a few minutes and continued. "When I was younger, she always used to be angry with me for spending more time playing the piano and less time running the motel. That's why I stopped playing after a while. Anyway, it's – it's all coming back to me now," he said, tapping on the piano keys. "Playing the piano relaxes me. It…it just makes me forget about everything else, and just relax. Do you know how that feels?"

"Of course I know," I nodded. "But anyway, tell me more about your mother," I said. "What is she like?" I suddenly remembered the figure at the window. Was it still there, I wondered?

Norman shrugged. "Why bother going over that? There's not much point."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up, I didn't mean to pry. It's your business of course," I said quickly, not wanting to change his mood again.

"It's all right. You see, my mother…my mother, when I was a little boy, didn't treat me very well. She was always very strict with me, she sometimes…she sometimes drove me a little crazy. I was always angry with her. And now…now she's just stayed like that. Stayed crazy," he finished off. The look in his eyes had changed now, from anxious to thoughtful, as if he was searching for something that had happened in the past. He opened his mouth to try and carry on speaking, but he didn't say anything and just sat uneasily. It was almost as if he had something he wanted to tell me, but couldn't.

"I'm sorry," I said to him gently. "That must have been very hard on you."

"It's all right. That was in the past. I can…cope with it now," he told me, cheering up a little bit. "That's why I told you not to go back to your room yesterday night. My mother doesn't…well, she doesn't accept strangers very well. And now, we should – we really should go, go back downstairs," he said, and looking at me nervously.

"Would she really have tried to do something bad to me?" I asked. "I still can't imagine that possibility. I mean…what about now? Would she try something now?"

Norman paused and looked around nervously, as if he thought that his mother might be watching, listening to us speaking. Then he came and sat down next to me, and held my hand tightly, so tightly that I nearly lost the feeling in my fingers. I was starting to get more than a little spooked by the way he looked around the room. He was making me scared as well. He looked at me worriedly and then looked back around the room, and then back at me. It was as if he was looking to me to make something better. I liked to think that, of course I did, but I was still kind of worried about him.

"Norman, is something wrong?" I asked him worriedly.

"Yes. I mean no," he said quickly.

"Well, is there or isn't there?" I laughed quietly.

"There's nothing wrong, all right?" he said angrily, his voice changing again. Again I mentally kicked myself for saying that. I didn't want him to get angry again.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I really am. Would you like to go back downstairs?"

"Please," Norman said, a bit more calmly this time. "We need to get out of here. Quickly."

We both got up, and walked back out of the house. He was still holding onto my hand tightly. As we were walking outside, Norman quickly glanced up the stairs, and then quickly closed the door behind us. After we went out, I realised that now it was not only love that I felt, it was also excitement, anticipation. Again, I had never met anyone who could make me feel like that. But still, I felt that I could help him. I knew most things about him by now. I loved the fact that he played the piano so well. But there was something else, something he couldn't tell me. And I felt sure that I could help him. I had to find out why he changed moods so easily.

As we were walking back down the hill, Norman looked a bit more relaxed. "I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you in there," he told me as we went down. "You must understand, I really didn't mean it."

I paused for a minute, but then I looked right in his anxious eyes and said, "It's all right, Norman. It really is. Don't worry about anything. We're not in that house any more."

Norman nodded. After that, he was back to his usual mood. Again, I felt that I had somehow helped him.

As soon as we got back downstairs, we went back to the office and sat back down. Norman was right, there really didn't seem to be much to do in a place like this. But still, I didn't care. As long as I was with Norman I didn't care what I was doing.

"You still haven't told me anything about your life yet," Norman observed, smiling at me. "How did you end up here?"

"Well," I started off. "I sort of lost my way. In fact no, I didn't really lose my way because I didn't know where I was going in the first place. In fact I still haven't figured that out, where I'm going to go, what I'm going to do. You see, up until yesterday, I lived in Phoenix. It took me about eighteen hours to get here. And…leaving Phoenix was probably the most stupid decision I could ever have made. But I had to because…Norman, can I confide in you?"

"Of course," he said eagerly.

"Well you see…that day I had been given forty thousand dollars to take to the bank. And…well, to put it in a very simple way, I didn't. I took it, packed my suitcase, and left, and arrived here. And looking back on it now, I can't even understand why I did it. I had a good life in Phoenix, but it was just…somehow not right for me. I wanted a new start, in a better town, maybe I wanted more excitement, and I just…I don't even know what I wanted. It was just a sudden and impulsive decision. Everyone has always told me I was impulsive, and up until now I thought it was a good thing, but now…well, now I'm not so sure."

I looked at Norman sadly. I was expecting him to probably kick me out of the motel for being a thief, but he didn't. He just looked at me with a surprised look on his face and waited. I laughed weakly. "You probably think I'm crazy," I said gloomily. "Forgive me, I shouldn't even have told you anything about it."

"No, no. Not at all," Norman said finally. "I don't think you're crazy at all. You're just…very brave."

I laughed again. "Brave? I suppose that's just a nicer word for crazy."

"No, that's not what I meant at all," Norman carried on. "I meant…well, we all go a little crazy sometimes, don't we? And I understand why you would want to do this."

"So, you're…you're not going to go to the police?" I asked reluctantly.

"Of course not," Norman said. "I would never do that."

"Really? Oh, thank you so much. I was getting kind of scared that you would."

"Never," Norman said. We were both silent for a while then. I couldn't thank him enough for not telling on me. I probably shouldn't have told him any of those things anyway, but I couldn't help myself, I always tell things, and anyway, I trusted him. I felt I could trust him with my life.

"Did you have any family in Phoenix?" Norman asked me finally.

I thought about that for a minute. "Well. Not really what you could call a family. I…I had a boyfriend called Sam, but he was never around. I also have a sister called Lila, but…well, she was never around either. So I suppose I never really had a proper family. I've always been kind of lonely in Phoenix." Then I paused and thought a bit more. "You're probably wondering if they'll be worried about me. Well, I think sooner or later they might be, but my sister rarely calls me any more, so she probably won't even realise that I'm not there. And Sam…well, let's just say that Sam's and my…connection was more physical than anything else. He just…he just came over to Phoenix every week and had sex with me in a hotel room. And we also argued often. We just…we weren't right for each other. When someone's the right person for you, you just know. Do you know what I mean?" I finished off gently. Again we looked at each other for a long time; in fact, such a long time that I wondered if I had unintentionally embarrassed him, but then he spoke again.

"Of course I know," he said. "I've just never been lucky enough to meet the right person in my life."

"Are you so lonely here?" I asked him gloomily.

Norman hesitated. "Well, I have my mother. But she's…well, she's not exactly what you could call could good company. I mean, she's ill and I have to look after her all the time. I've just always wanted a friend. Someone like you, but…" Norman's voice trailed off and he sighed.

"But what?" I asked.

"But my mother didn't usually approve of me having other friends," Norman said after a pause. "She always wanted it to just be her and me, without anything coming between us, and up until a while ago I thought I did too. But then…well, then I met you. And now I'm not so sure any more. And you understand that I always wanted me and my mother's relationship to change, but it never did. I suppose she'll just always be the same."

Then we both smiled. That was when it really did seem to me that I was helping Norman, whatever his problem might be.

"Well, my life was completely different from yours, then," I carried on. "Both my parents died when I was quite young and I only had my sister left. I like the fact that you and your mother are so close. I definitely never had a relationship like that with either of my parents."  
"If you…if you knew what my mother was like, you probably wouldn't think that. She was always very strict with me and…and a bit strange," he added. "But anyway. It doesn't really bother me that much any more. Anyway, tell me about your sister. What is she like?"

Then I laughed again and thought about it. "Well, to be completely frank with you, she always scares me. She's very…I don't know, very aggressive, I suppose. And not just with me, with everybody. If someone says one thing to upset her she goes crazy. We used to get into arguments all the time; most of them were because she was nagging at me about something. I don't think you would like to meet her very much, actually. I don't think anyone would!"

"How old is she? About your age?"

"She's not my age. She's older. Thirty in September, I think. She always used to think that just because she was older than me, she could boss me around and tell me what to do. We used to have these huge arguments. I suppose that's why she doesn't get in touch much any more. I think it was just because we were so different that we didn't get along. Well, not all the time at least. Sometimes we did, and we had a lot of fun sometimes. But the point is we had two completely different personalities. She kept nagging at me to do something with my life, even though she never really did anything much with her life either. She always used to call me a thoughtless little slut, if you'll excuse my language," I added. "And thoughtless I am," I said, sighing deeply. "I hate to admit it, but I really am thoughtless, and there's nothing that I can do about it. It's just the way I am. But I mean…I'm not a slut, if you want to know. I mean…you don't think I act like one, do you?"

"No, of course not," Norman said. "I mean…you're probably the nicest girl I've ever met."

Then once again I found myself fighting not to blush. "Well, thank you. If you got to know me, though, you'd probably think that I was horrible, trust me," I said and laughed again.

"I would never think that about you. As I said, I've never met anyone like you before. And I mean that in a good way," Norman added. "You just…fascinate me. You have something that most girls never have."

"I have?" I repeated, looking deeply into his eyes.

"There's no name for it. It's something that puts a person at ease," Norman continued. "Something that makes anyone feel comfortable around you."

"That's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," I said and we both smiled again. Once again my heart skipped a beat and fluttered in my chest. Norman was so kind and…well, I had almost forgotten any kind of problem that he must have. Right then all I could think of was that I love him, and I hoped more than anything that he did as well.

Sometimes, for the rest of that day, we just walked companionably together outside, not speaking, but just enjoying being together. I must admit that by the end of that day Norman was starting to act a little more…normal. A little more normal and a little less paranoid than how he was acting last night and this morning. He was getting better, I thought, and I liked to think that maybe it was from being with me that he was acting more calm and more "together."

That evening we went back to the office. He fixed us dinner, and we both ate it this time. I was actually feeling a lot calmer and happier I had been the day before. I must admit, the day before I was a nervous wreck. But now I felt better, and I thought that Norman did too. At least I hoped so, even though I was still pretty spooked out about how Norman was acting in his house this morning.

After we had finished dinner we just sat looking at each other for a long time, like we had yesterday evening, but then I decided to break the silence. "I think we should go to bed. It's getting late."

I was actually hoping more than anything that he would ask me to spend the night with him again. I would feel much better with him there to give me comfort and safety than alone in my room. It made me feel sort of insecure, being alone now. And also, I must admit, I was kind of scared at what Norman had been telling me about his mother. I didn't want to be alone. But he didn't say anything; he just sat there smiling at me. "Would you like to come to my room?" I asked him finally. "It's better than in here, and we'd have more space." I saw that his smile faded from his face, so I quickly carried on. "Of course I understand if you don't want to. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound too forward."

"No," he said to me smiling. "I'd love to."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight – In Cabin One**

**Still Sunday, heading into Monday**

Dear Diary,

As Norman and I headed towards my room, I felt a tingle of anticipation rush all over me, as I looked at his face in the pale moonlight. He smiled at me and looked at me affectionately. It seemed to me that for the first time since we had met he actually seemed calm to me. Then he reached round my waist and slipped an arm round me. His touch sent shivers down my spine as we walked towards cabin one.

My room only had one bed in it, so it seemed we would have to share that one. I didn't mind it at all, actually. I wanted to. I just wasn't sure if Norman wanted to. I knew that I was in love with him, but then I wondered, was he in love with me? So far he had done a pretty good job of showing it. But I still wasn't sure.

As we walked into my room I immediately asked him, "Are you sure it's all right if you sleep here? Perhaps you'd like to go back to your house."

"No, no. I want to stay here," he answered me. "As I told you, I don't like to go home."

I quietly started drawing back the covers of my bed and getting ready while Norman modestly looked away. I looked back at Norman and smiled as he heavily sat down on my armchair.

As I silently lay down on the bed he smiled back at me. Then he slowly sat down beside me. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked me.

"Of course not," I said, laughing nervously. "I'm the one who urged you last night."

Norman smiled and slowly lay down on the bed and put his arms round me, and again I felt that sense of security and sureness that I had felt last night, only tonight it was stronger and more intense. My heart was pounding and I was hot and trembling all over as he rested his head on my breast. "You smell nice," he told me, breathing in my smell.

I laughed. "What do I smell like?"

"You smell like…those toasted cheese sandwiches my mother used to make for me when I was little," he said, and his face darkened again and he stiffened in my arms.

"Are you all right, Norman?" I whispered to him softly in his ear, feeling his soft hair through my fingers. He flinched at my gentle caress of his ear.

"Almost," he whispered back to me. That answer was a bit strange in my opinion, but still, he had always been a strange man. I had realised that when I had first met him.

Tonight wasn't like the other night. Tonight I suddenly felt a sudden rush of desire for him as I felt his body pressed against mine. I knew that maybe Norman would just want to lie here and hold each other like we did the other night. I tried to stay still, but I was hot and trembling and I loved him so much I wanted to do so much more than just hold him…

"What's the matter?" Norman suddenly said to me. "You're shaking all over. Are you all right?"

"Yes I'm fine. It…it must just be the heat," I whispered to him.

"Would you like me to get up then?" he offered.

"No," I said quickly. "Of course I don't."

He smiled and held me even tighter. I turned to face him for a moment, and we stared at each other. I smiled at him, but in his eyes I could see fear. Fear of what was to come next. He tried to smile awkwardly, but then he said, "I want to kiss you. But it just…it just wouldn't be right. If I start, then I won't be able to stop. And I know I'm going to regret it afterwards."

But then I couldn't restrain myself any longer, so without knowing what I was doing but just doing it hypnotically again, I turned to face him and kissed him gently, my arms encircling his neck. He still seemed scared to me, like he was still thinking of his mother. Still, he was always thinking about his mother. That's why I was trying to take his mind off her.

As soon as I kissed him there was something that just made my mind go blank on everything else around me and just focus on what was happening, here and now. There could be a fire five feet away from me and I wouldn't notice! After a few seconds though, he slowly pulled away from me.

"What is it?" I whispered to him, my eyes closed, my mouth blindly searching for his again.

"My mother had said that I shouldn't be doing this," he said. "She said that it's not right."

"Shh. Forget about your mother. It's just you and me now," I told him, hoping that he would stop thinking about his mother for at least a few minutes.

"But you…you don't understand," he mumbled to me as I kissed him again, and gently caressed his back, trying to urge him to continue. "There is something that I really must tell you."

He still tried to pull away from me, and he didn't kiss me back; he just lay there with his anxious look in his eyes again. I made one last attempt to get through to him. "Tomorrow," I whispered as I gently rolled over onto my back so that his warm weight was on top of me. "Tonight, you just focus on here and now."

For a moment I wondered what it was that had been on his mind all this time, that thing that he apparently couldn't tell me. It had been bothering me all this time. But still, he seemed more relaxed after I had told him that. He slowly unbuttoned my night-clothes and for the first time he seemed to return my kiss and tried to reach for my breast, and I felt his warm weight press up against me. He took charge this time, and his kisses were getting hotter, more eager than before. At one point he paused and smiled down at me, gently caressing my cheek, so gently that it sent shivers down my spine.

"Oh Marion," he whispered to me as he lowered himself down onto me and kissed me again, this time with an urgency, a kind of passion that I wasn't expecting, sort of as if he had some hidden feelings that he could release in this way. At least that's what I thought. He wasn't very sure of himself, and I didn't know why. It was like he had never made love before. And maybe he hadn't. But whatever, I didn't care, that wasn't important right now.

For the rest of it my mind was elsewhere. All I was thinking about was how much I love him. I had even forgotten why I was here in the first place, how we had met, everything else. I looked over his bare shoulder at the ceiling, and right then all I did was enjoy what I was doing and completely surrendered to the moment.

After it was all finished I went to sleep soundly, lost in bliss. My mind still couldn't work the way it usually did. Norman stroked my hair gently and I moved even closer to him and smiled. He kissed my cheek and held me even tighter. After a few minutes he fell asleep. As I listened to Norman breathing softly into my hair, I just felt complete bliss and nothing else. I felt his body pressed tightly against mine and I felt so safe and so loved. I was lost in love, and right then thinking of nothing else that could possibly happen, not even what would happen the next morning.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine – Strange goings-on**

**Monday, 26th May, 1960**

Dear Diary,

For much of last night, I had lain awake, aware of Norman's warm body beside me, and I felt happy. For the first time in my life I actually felt truly happy. I felt complete. I listened to Norman's breathing in my hair and his heartbeat, and I felt his hard legs between mine, and I felt as if nothing else in the world mattered but us.

So the next morning I slowly woke up. As my mind slowly started to come back to me and I remembered what had happened last night, I looked around for Norman. I looked to the other side of the bed, but he wasn't there. I looked around the room. He wasn't anywhere.

"Norman?" I called out. No answer. I slowly got up and got dressed, and then looked in the bathroom. But he wasn't there. He had left. For a moment I wondered where he could have gone. I went out of my room and started walking back towards his office to check if he was there. As I walked towards it, I smiled as I remembered what we had done last night. I could still feel his arms round me, his soft breath in my hair, and I remembered every single one of his touches, how they had made me tingle all over…

"Norman?" I called again at the door. "Are you in there?"

Still there was no reply. I opened the door suspiciously. But he was in there, sitting silently on the armchair. I felt kind of relieved when I found him. If he wasn't there I was always worried for some reason.

"Are you all right, Norman?" I asked him. "I woke up but you weren't there."

"What…what happened last night?" he asked me vaguely.

I looked at him strangely. "You don't remember? That's odd because I remember everything so vividly."

But then he looked round at me and smiled. "Of course I remember," he told me. "I was just busy…thinking about something."

"About what?" I smiled at him. But his smile had faded from his face and he looked at me seriously. "I have to talk to you about something, my dear," he told me. That was the first time I had heard him call me that before. When I heard it I just wanted to hear it again and again. "Something serious," he added. "Sit down. Sit down here and I'll tell you."

I sat down reluctantly. Right then I was somehow scared that he wanted to break up with me or to ask me to leave or something. But why? Had I done something wrong last night?

"What is it, Norman?" I asked him. "Have I done something wrong? You can tell me if I have, you know. Did I do something to upset you last night? I mean, I know it was kind of sudden but -"

But then he shook his head vigorously. "No. You haven't done anything wrong. It's not you. It's not you at all. It's me that's the problem," he said. Why was he telling me this though? Problem with what, I thought to myself suspiciously. I was very uncomfortable as I sat there.

"Tell me," I told him. "I'm ready for whatever you have to say. But what is it that is so wrong with you? What have you been hiding from me?"

"You haven't noticed anything odd about me since you came here?" he asked me, looking at me a bit sadly. At that moment I looked in his eyes again. That's when I noticed it. The gleam was not there. That anxious look, the paranoid expression that he had when I had first laid my eyes on him, had gone. He didn't look like he had anything wrong at all. In fact he looked a lot better than when I had first met him. So I simply shook my head. "No, I haven't," I answered him.

"Don't lie to me," he said, kind of angrily and widening his eyes at me then. "Not you."

That sort of scared me. I had never seen him in this mood before. "Yes, I have noticed something strange about you," I nodded. I just thought that if I agreed with everything he said, then I might stop him from being angry with me. But still, what did I do? Even though he had only said one thing to me, I was almost in tears by now.

Norman sighed. He didn't say anything else; he just sat there. I finally managed to break the silence, thinking that there was another reason as to why he was acting like this. "You're ashamed," I told him sadly. "You're ashamed of what happened last night, aren't you?"

But then Norman smiled at me and shook his head. "Of course not," he told me. I must say, that relieved me, to know that at least he was glad that it happened. "I would never be ashamed of you. You should know that," he continued but then he sighed and frowned again. "It's just something else. Something that I've been meaning to tell you for quite a long time now, but I just never could say it. I didn't know how you'd take it."

Then I went over to him and sat on the arm of the chair next to him. I shook my head at him and gently put a finger to his lips. "You don't have to tell me anything. It's not important to me," I told him. "Let me stay with you," I continued, without even thinking. "Let me stay here, and live with you. Or you can come with me and we'll go and live somewhere else, somewhere far away from here. Don't you want that?"

Then he smiled at me and took my hands and gently stroked them. "Of course I want that," he told me. "But it is…difficult. I have been keeping a secret from you. I didn't think I was, but I really have to tell you something."

That was another surprise in this particularly strange day. I had always suspected that he was keeping something from me. Even when we were talking the other day, I had told him everything that there was to know about me but he had told me very little, if not anything about him. I had to know. What he had just told me made me wonder whether or not this man was still in his right mind. In fact I was a little bit afraid to hear his secret, so I shook my head again. I knew I wasn't listening to what he wanted to tell me, but my mind was elsewhere right now, still lost in love and in thoughts of what we did last night.

Then I just waited and took a deep breath. "Don't you realise how much I love you?" I asked him gently. "That's all that matters to me. All I want now is to be with you."

Norman waited, looking confused and surprised, but then he finally shook his head sadly. "No," he said. "I can't…I can't live like this any more. Not with you. Not here."

That almost made me want to burst into tears. I knew that there was something going on. I was starting to think that all he had wanted to do all this time was to sleep with me and now that he's got what he wanted he's asking me to leave. I thought that that was why he was trying to romance me like this. I started to get angry and upset at the same time.

"What were you doing then?" I asked, almost shouting and crying at the same time. "Was it all a joke then, everything that happened between us? Was what happened last night a joke? Did you just do it because you felt sorry for me? Why did you have to go and seduce me like that and make me fall in love with you if it was all just a stupid joke, something that you could do to occupy yourself? Is that what you do to every woman that comes to this motel?"

"I'm going to have to correct you on one of those statements," Norman said indignantly. "You're the one who seduced me. You said so yourself. You have no right to be angry with me, because you're the one who made me make love to you last night."

"Made you?" I shouted again. "You could have done many things. Pushed me away. Got up off the bed, anything. But you did nothing. You wanted it just as much as I did," I paused there, and waited for what he would say.

"All right. Fine," he said to me finally. "There was…something that came over me last night. Yes, I know I wanted it then, and I will remember it always but now…"

"But now you're ashamed and you wish that you'd never done it, right?" I cut him off angrily again. "If you want to know the truth, I just think you should know that I'm not ashamed at all at what I did, and I would do it again if I had the chance. And you shouldn't be either. You wanted it, and so did I. So we did it. What's the harm in that?"

"Nothing!" he insisted. "It's not that. It's not that at all. It's just that…my mother –"

"Your mother?" I interrupted him again. "I couldn't give a damn about your mother right now. I don't understand why you're so attached to her anyway!" I stopped there, and Norman looked at me and sighed. I could see that I had upset him. I didn't really mean to say that, but my temper had really gone a little bit crazy right then. I carried on, a bit more calmly this time, and told him gently,

"I loved you from the first moment I saw you, and this time that we've spent together, have quite frankly been the happiest days of my entire life. And I wasn't sure because you were always a bit distant and strange with me, but in the last few days I thought that you really did love me as well. But I suppose I was wrong." I stopped there. Norman looked at me silently. I waited, and half of me was hoping that he would tell me that of course he loved me, and of course he did want me to stay with him. But he said nothing. He just stared at me, looking solemn and silent.

"Very well then," I said finally, getting up and walking briskly towards the door. "I'll go now and you may never see me again. I understand that you don't really love me, even if I thought you did, and it's all right. No, don't try to deny it, because it is true," I said as I saw him shaking his head. "I have just fallen into a trap that you have obviously set for me, to make me think that you really did love me. I have been very foolish to fall for such a cruel trick. To be honest, I've fallen for this kind of thing many times before. So I'll just go back home now and forget that this ever happened, and leave you and your mother alone. Oh and also you have no need to worry about me telling anyone about what we did, I will not speak a word of it to anyone, because thanks to you, you've made _me_ ashamed to even think about it. Goodbye, Mr Bates," I added coldly and opened the door to leave.

My eyes were filled with tears as I walked out of the room. How could he do this to me? How could he fool me into thinking that he loved me when all he wanted was to use me? He was just like every other man. No actually, only he was worse because he made me think that he was different. As I started walking back to my room, and again I remembered Norman's kisses and how amazing they felt, how special they were to me. He had made me feel special, like I really was someone, like I was not just a thief. But obviously now he had made me realise that I was no one, just a girl he picked up, a girl he felt sorry for, who doesn't know what to do with her life. I hated him for making me feel like that. Now when I thought of the way his body felt on mine it made me shudder just thinking about it. I felt stupid that I had let this man know me like this when all he wanted was to spend some time with me, and then just let me go. But still, somewhere inside me I found myself wishing more than anything that I could taste those kisses again. I knew that I still loved him, even if he had upset me so much.

As I walked out of the office I heard Norman run after me.

"Marion, wait!" he said to me. He ran after me and caught my arm.

"Let me go!" I said snappily, struggling to get out of his grip.

"I – look, please don't go. I need you," Norman said desperately.

"You need me?" I shook my head at him. "Maybe you could have told me that before you said all those hurtful things to me."

"I think you're exaggerating, Marion," he told me. "You can't go now. I haven't told you what I was going to tell you yet," he told me, still holding on to me.

"I no longer want you to tell me anything," I said. "I understand everything perfectly well."

"No you don't," Norman insisted. "There's something else too." He still wouldn't let go of me, and then he tried to pull me in the other direction.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'm no longer interested," I said. "You must let me go this instant!"

"No," he said, forcing me to walk in the other direction. "You have to know the truth and you have to know it now."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten – The Truth **

**Still Monday, 11am**

Dear Diary,

After that I still struggled to escape, but more and more half-heartedly, because I really did want to know the truth, the truth behind Norman's strange behaviour. Norman started pulling me towards the direction of his house up on the hill. "Where are you taking me?" I asked frantically.

"You'll see," Norman said. When we finally got to the door after a long flight of stairs, he opened it and pulled me inside the house. It was a large house, no doubt about that, but as I said it was the perfect place for a murder. I got more and more scared as he pulled me up more stairs, to the upstairs floor, but I would have followed anyway. I really did have to know the truth, however frightening it might be. He led me through a door and into the room. The very room that I had seen the dark figure at the window from downstairs.

There was indeed someone sitting at the window, but perfectly still, on a chair turned to face outside. "This is what I was hiding from you, what I did not want to tell you," Norman said and quickly went up to the chair. I waited because my feet seemed glued to the spot. I couldn't move. For one thing I was too scared to move. I had no idea what would happen now.

When Norman turned the chair around I got the biggest shock of my entire life. Instead of a face, I saw a mouldering skeleton sitting on the chair!

As soon as I saw this, I screamed as loud as I could and started to run away. I ran back down the flights of stairs, tripping up on the way, and got to the door. I heard Norman chasing after me. What would he do if he caught me, I thought, my mind racing. Would he kill me? I could barely believe what I had just seen and I was half expecting myself to wake up sometime soon and find that this had all been just a bad dream. That's what I was hoping at least. My heart was pounding as I ran out of the house. I had never been more scared in my whole life.

As soon as I ran out of the door I felt an arm grab me from round my waist and I screamed again and struggled to break free. But Norman held on to me tightly. "Don't scream," he told me urgently. "Please don't scream. I can explain."

"Let me go!" I shouted again. "Get away from me, you psycho!"

He tried to restrain me again and finally I just gave up, waiting for whatever he would do to me. "Listen! Would you just listen to me!" he shouted. I stood perfectly still in his grip, breathing hard. "OK," he said. "I will let you go now, please do not run away. You wanted me to explain, and I will. I promise you that I will not do anything bad to you. Will you promise me that you won't run away?"

I stayed silent, not being able to talk since I was so scared. "Do you promise me?" he repeated a bit louder. I nodded vigorously. "Yes, I promise," I whispered in fear. I was too scared to do anything else anyway.

"OK," Norman started off, and slowly let go of my arms. I was glued to the spot again. "Yes, it is true," he continued. "I was the one who killed my mother because she was driving me so crazy. She was so strict with me and I thought that she did not even love me. I poisoned her tea and killed her one time. It was, as you said yourself, a sudden act of craziness. But the only thing was that I stayed like that. After I had killed her, my mind just got so twisted and I stayed like that. You must have realised, all those things I was talking to you about, I was talking about myself, not my mother." He stopped there, while I still didn't speak, just looked at him in horror.

Then he carried on, more gently than before. "And now, the only time I ever truly started to feel better - the only time I ever started to really feel _well_, in fact, when I started to finally see sense again – was when I met you. You were so kind and so beautiful and you ended up being the only person that I ever truly cared about. You showed me what it feels like to truly love someone, and you are the only one who has ever been able to do that. And before you say anything else, yes, I am in love with you, I always have been, and I do desperately want you to stay with me. But as I realised what I had done I was just…more and more afraid to tell you my secret."

He stopped there and sighed deeply. He waited for what I would say. For a few moments I didn't say anything. I was much too shocked to speak. As I slowly realised what had happened, tears were silently spilling down my cheeks. In a way, I was still terrified. But in another way, finally finding out Norman's secret was like a huge weight was lifted off my back. I had finally found out why he was acting strange all this time. I kind of knew that it would be something like this, something that would shock me. He was, after all, full of surprises! But I still couldn't believe it.

"Forgive me," he told me when I didn't say anything. "Forgive me for not telling you earlier, but obviously I didn't want to scare you because I love you so much. I was trying to tell you about it without actually showing you, but I thought that maybe that would be even worse. I could just never find the right words. I know it may seem shocking, but I really did kill my mother. But I would never dream of doing anything bad to you."

With that he took me in his arms and held me tightly. But I still couldn't speak. I simply stared at him because I was still very scared. I couldn't believe what had just happened here, what he had just explained to me. I was shaking in his arms, and now I realised that that feeling of protectiveness and security that I had felt when we had lain together before, had gone. In fact now I had a completely opposite feeling, a feeling of fright and anxiousness. However much I still loved him, because I must admit that I still loved him, now I felt frightened. But I was in complete shock.

When Norman realised that I still wasn't saying anything, he looked at me right in the eyes, and I looked back at him with a completely blank expression on my face. The shock of what I had seen inside Norman's house was starting to come over me. I hadn't noticed it before, but now all sorts of muddled thoughts that didn't make any sense to me were going in and out of my head.

"Marion?" Norman asked me worriedly. "Can you hear me?"

I very gently moved my head. I think he took that as a yes, because he looked relieved. "Are you all right?" he continued gently. "Did you understand what I told you?"

Again I gave a tiny nod, but I still didn't speak. Norman still looked worried. "Do you want to go back down to the office?" he asked me anxiously. I didn't answer this time; I just moved my eyes around. So with little other choice he slowly led me back down the pathway, his arms holding me protectively round my shoulders close to him. I was still shaking all over, this time simply because I was scared. I couldn't believe what he had shown me; what I had seen in his house had made nearly all those feelings of safety go away.

"I really am so sorry Marion," Norman whispered to me softly. "I'm sorry for scaring you so much. Don't forget that I love you. You'll be all right, don't worry."

When we got back down to Norman's office he slowly sat me down on the sofa and held me tightly. He gently kissed my hair. That feeling of his lips was the only thing I could feel right then, even though some of those thoughts in my mind were starting to make sense. The picture of the corpse I had seen in Norman's house kept coming back to my head.

"You're still shaking, are you cold?" Norman asked me.

After a few minutes I finally managed to speak again. "A…a little," I stuttered.

"I'll bring you a blanket," Norman said and got up and walked out of the room. Meanwhile my mind was slowly coming back to me, and I remembered what had happened. But then I suddenly felt anxious. What was I doing, just sitting here when I knew that Norman could kill me at any time? But still, deep down I knew that however scared I felt, I could never make myself fall out of love with Norman. I would always love him, I would always feel safe around him, even if I knew that he was a killer. I had realised that by now. After a few minutes Norman came back with a blanket and a mug of coffee and smiled at me. I gave a tiny smile back and he came back to the sofa and wrapped the blanket round me and handed me the mug. "Are you warm enough?" he asked.

"Yes, I think I'm OK now. …Thank you," I said slowly.

We sat silently for a few minutes, I suppose because neither of us really had anything much to say. I had understood everything that Norman had told me up on the hill. He had reassured me that he loved me and that he would never harm me in any way. But still, I couldn't help having doubts somewhere in my mind. I fidgeted on my seat as Norman sat with an arm round me. I had managed to stop shaking now, but I still looked anxiously at Norman.

"Marion, please say something," Norman said quietly.

I slightly shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I don't really have much to say," I said. "Of course I understand what you told me up there but…I still can't believe it of you, Norman. I mean, I…I trusted you, I trusted you more than I've ever trusted anyone before and now this…" my voice trailed off and I took a sip from the coffee and tried to calm down.

Norman sighed and stayed silent, and then he took his arm off my shoulders and moved away from me.

"No don't take your arm away," I told him suddenly. "Please hold me. I need you."

Norman quickly came back and put his arm round me again. "I know you trusted me, Marion, and I don't want that to go away," he told me. "I really want you to trust me and to love me like you did before because I love you more than anything. Of course…of course I understand if you want to leave now," he continued sadly.

"No," I said quickly. "I would never leave you now. I've always loved you, ever since I saw you that night. It seems like a hundred years ago to me right now you know, that time we started talking. But I still can't believe that you would murder someone, especially your own mother. I mean…you were the last person I thought would ever murder someone."

"You didn't know my mother," Norman said darkly. "You didn't know what she was like. If you did then I'm sure you would have done the same."

He seemed angry to me, so I quickly continued. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Please don't be angry with me."

Thankfully his face softened again and he smiled. "I would never be angry with you, silly," he said, playing with a strand of my hair. "You know that."

I smiled and moved even closer to him, and he gently stroked my shoulder. "Can I tell you something?" Norman asked me seriously.

"Yes of course," I said eagerly.

"You know the other night when I asked you not to go back to your room?" he asked me nervously.

"Yes," Actually I kind of knew what he was going to tell me, even before he said it.

"Well…please don't be scared or anything," he continued quietly. "But the reason I asked you to stay was because I was afraid that…well it wasn't really clear to me then, but I was kind of afraid that I would do something bad to you. That's why I didn't want you to be alone. I just…I wanted to protect you. Without you there with me, I just…I just wouldn't be myself. I wouldn't be able to think clearly. With you, I was just…I felt safe, safer than I've ever felt in my life. But don't take this the wrong way," he told me quickly. "As I said I would never hurt you. I wouldn't hurt you for the world. I love you. And I know this might sound strange but…it was because I love you that I might have tried something. It's just complicated. Please don't ask me any more questions about that."

I was actually not very shocked at what he said. I had always suspected that that was the reason he said that my room was not "safe" as he put it. I had known from then on that he had some serious problems.

"But I'm very glad that you stayed with me that night, regardless of why you stayed," he continued gently. "You were such a great comfort to me that night."

I smiled and nodded. "I understand," I said quietly. I don't know why, but for some reason even with all this going on, I still desperately wanted to stay with him. I think it was because I had always been a little crazy myself! As I remembered now, why else would I steal all that money back home and then run away without even knowing what I was going to do with it or where I was going to go? I think it takes a pretty crazy person to do that!

"Do you really want to stay with me now?" Norman asked, as if he could read my mind.

"Of course," I smiled again and nodded vigorously. "I would never leave you, Norman."

Then he smiled and hugged me again. "You won't miss your old home?" he asked me.

"Of course not. Not as long as I'm with you," I said. Then he smiled again, but then a thought suddenly snapped into my head and I continued talking. "But you could have told me about all this earlier. You could have told me before. Why didn't you?"

Then he laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen to me. Anyway like I said, I didn't want to scare you or upset you."

I suddenly realised that I was the one who hadn't let him speak before, who hadn't let him explain. I silently laughed to myself. Who was I to have got so angry with him when he was only trying to explain? I was the one who started everything. "I'm really sorry," I continued. "I should have listened to you, forgive me. I should never have said all those things to you, I really was the one who started all this, the one who seduced you. I was just fed up and hurt for some reason. It doesn't even matter now. It's just the way I am. I really am sorry," I finished off.

"Like you said, let's forget it," he said again.

"But I – I really feel horrible about that…" I insisted, because I really did.

"Hush, don't speak any more," he continued, smiling at me and taking my hand. "It's not even important now. I forgive you, just so you know. The only important thing now is that we sorted all this out."

That was the most important thing, I thought. Nothing else mattered now. At least not to me!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven – The End**

**Today, two years later**

Dear Diary,

In case you're wondering what happened afterwards, there is really not much to say. I stayed with Norman in his motel, and we were happy together. He finally got rid of his mother's corpse! And I moved into the house with him. You may wonder how I was not scared to stay with him. There was something about him that made him completely harmless. There had been all the way from the beginning. It just didn't show until now. And besides, I'm glad that I helped him see sense again.

Surprisingly, after all this happened, I learned afterwards that all the people back home had been looking for me, but since this motel was so far away, and so off the beaten track, no one found me. I had to admit, there were times when I missed my old home, I missed my sister Lila, and I admit that sometimes I even missed Sam, my former boyfriend. Sometimes I really did feel bad for leaving home. I even considered giving them a phone call to let them know where I was, but that was all in the past now. Now I have to look to the future. So, in a way, I feel happy that I left. I don't mind living here. I love it, because I'm with Norman. I could live anywhere with Norman. What I learned since I arrived here, I think is to be a better person. I think we both did. Norman helped me take life a bit more seriously, and I helped him overcome his problem. So, I suppose everybody's happy!

Oh, and there's something else too. I decided to send back the money I stole and ask for forgiveness. As I said I have realised that I can't just act without thinking about the consequences all the time. Maybe sometimes, but not all the time. So, I'm glad that I did another (kind of!) good deed.

I'm very glad that this happened to me, because I feel that it was like an adventure. A long, sometimes scary, but definitely romantic adventure, that will definitely have a happy end…

THE END


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